democracy and authoritarianism definitions

d&a definitions

Comparative method

A research approach that involves comparing two or more variables/items e.g: American and British executive systems, to identify similarities and differences and then to the underlying causes or relationships

Theory

A model, framework, paradigms or set of applicable understandings encompassing why or how relationships between mechanisms and variables work

Hypothesis

Our educated guess about the outcome of an analysis or essay. For example, there is a positive relationship between GDP and Quality of Life

Dependent variable

The variable that changes depending on the change of the independent variable, usually placed on the y-axis

Independent variable

The variable we modify to see if a change occurs in the dependent variable is usually placed on the x-axis

Comparative politics

the study of the political phenomena that are predominantly within country relationships; the study of political phenomena using the comparative method

Methodology

the research methods and the discussion over the reasoning, and use of research methods and their implications on the study

Typology

the classifications employed to codify items or variables. Exhaustive and produce mutually exclusive categories

Description

Prioritise the facts of the world and highlight features key to the question and organise those facts into a coherent narrative. An empirical proposition is an attempt to answer a descriptive research question e.g: What is the current level of democracy in Spain

Causation (U1)

when there is a casual mechanism between two variables which leads to a relationship between them; the direct consequences or effects of one set of events on the other. Correlation, Logical relationships and additional evidence

Spurious correlation (U1)

where correlation doesn’t necessitate that there was a causal mechanism between the two factors

Counterfactuals (U1)

speculate on the possible outcomes if no one factor would occur due to the second factor e.g: Does economic development cause democracy?

Most Similar Systems (U1)

a research design which is based on cases as similar as possible to isolate the causes of differences. Ones that have similar cases but different outcomes

Most Different Systems

A research design which is based on very different cases, but have the same outcome to isolate the cases of similarities

Case study

Using an example of a specific country or state which exemplifies your theory or hypothesis and helps you understand your research question empirically

Confounding variable

A variable which influences both the dependent and independent variables; instead of a relationship caused by your independent variable, there is a third variable which influences both

State (U2)

a specific type of political and administrative form of organisation over a given territory; a key actor in international relations

Nation (U2)

a culture, people, or constituent part of a state, it is not always in itself a state. E.g: England vs UK

Nationalism

a political ideology that emphasises the nation as the primary source of loyalty and identity, often advocating for national self-determination and sovereignty. This can include national independence movements such as those in Kosovo, Scotland and Catalonia

The Westphalian Order

The principle that states are the main actors on the international stage, founded by the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648, which established principles of religious toleration, territorial sovereignty, mediation and diplomacy (specifically between the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, Sweden, and France)

Colonial legacies

the idea that nations which once controlled other nations as colonies still have an impact on the global stage over them, especially in international relations. And the legacy of the colonialism within a nation over their institutions and statehood

State capacity

The ability of the state to meet the needs and requirements of its state and people. For example, providing institutions, basic public goods, and protection

Weak state vs Phantom States

A weak state (also known as a fragile state) is a state that struggles to fulfil its basic functions, such as providing security, basic services, and maintaining a degree of legitimacy. A phantom state refers to entities that claim to be sovereign but lack full international recognition or control over their territory

Failed states

a state that has lost its ability to fulfil fundamental functions like providing security, basic services, and effectively controlling its territory

Fragile State Index

an annual report that classifies which states are at risk of failing due to a myriad of indicators e.g: lack of rule of law, lack of efficacy, lack of autonomy, and a lack of legitimacy

Social movements

a mobilised network of groups and organisations, resting on a sense of collective identity that aims to bring about or resist fundamental changes in society by using primarily techniques of public or collective protest

Resource mobilisation theory (McCarthy and Zald)

views social movements as rational or strategic.

Political Opportunity Structure

social movements do not occur spontaneously but within the political system’s openness or closeness to challengers. For example, destabilising events may make it easier for social movements to reach the legislature; war

Political Process Model

focused on the political dimension of social movements and how they interacted with the institutions. arguing that for social movements to be effective, they couldn't always stay outside of the political system. Usually, they can integrate into the process by becoming a political party once they have gained legitimacy e.g: Green Party

Framing (Snow and Benford)

frames are communicative devices that give specific meaning to a situation or process; the conscious strategic efforts to change shared understandings and legitimise or motivate collective action (McAdam et al). Usually, they try to gain supporters outside the individuals the grievance affects and gains allies. e.g: abortion is muder, trans rights are human rights etc

Collective identity

a social construction that is constantly negotiated and reshaped in sequences of interactions, within social movements this may mean emphasising and hiding different parts of the movement, its exclusivity or inclusivity, and adjusting the saliency (noticeability). They need to create a sense of shared purpose

Minimalist democracy

effectively only looking at the instutitons that compose democracy. A regime in which leaders are selected through competitive elections, focusing on observable measures

Maximalist

they look at a wider range of factors in democracy. Require free and fair elections with the political liberties; elected officials, free and fair elections, citizens can run for office, freedom of expression, access to information, and freedom of association; there are degrees of democracy

Representative democracy

compared to direct democracy, where each citizen votes for every amendment or legislative proposal, they elect representatives to represent their values and give them legitimacy to vote in the legislature on their behalf

Polity IV

minimalist measure of democracy; a scale (-10 to 10) that ranks regime authority from least to most democratic; autocracy, anocracy and democracy

Freedom House

maximalist measure of democracy; two-tier system, scores from 0-4 on 10 political rights indicators and 15 civil liberties indicators. Then a three part scale of Free, Partly Free, Not Free based on the aggregate scores

V-DEM

maximalist measure of democracy; five separate indices: electoral liberals participatory, deliberative and egalitarian democracy, each with several factors that make up the V-DEM score

Modernisation theory

a perspective that views the transition of societies from traditional to modern states as a linear and inevitable process driven by the economic and social changes e.g: modern economic and political institutions

Democratisation

the process through which authoritarian countries become more democratic. There is a transition then consolidation where there has been a peaceful term in office after a second set of elections; it has several factors including social, cultural, institutional, political actors, international factors, etc.

Democratic backsliding

“state-led debilitation or elimination of any of the political institutions that sustain an existing democracy” (Bermeo); “gradual, incremental, elite-driven movement may from democracy” (Bakke and Sitter)

Process

Polarisation, autocratic politicians gain office, autocrats start changing the rules of the democratic game. E.g Hungary, Orban and Fidesz in power since 2010, weakening judiciary, media controls, etc; Poland PIS

Polarisation

the movement of political thought towards extreme poles, leaving a lack of moderate thought and extreme ideas, giving way to new anti-system parties gaining traction or populist parties

Democratic aggrandizement

refers to the weakening of democratic institutions and checks and balances, often by an elected executive, to increase their own power. This process, sometimes called “executive aggrandizement”, involves institutional changes that limit the ability of opposition forces to challenge the executive’s decisions. It’s often portrayed as a legitimate exercise of democratic power, even though it undermines the principles of democracy

Authocracy/Authoritarian regimes/Authoritarianism

An umbrella term which encompasses various governments which are united by their failure to transfer power through free and fair elections. They have no electoral turnover in the executive or do have turnover but not electoral e.g monarchy to military.

Totalitarianism

Ideologically driven by the leader who makes all decisions, relying on transforming the life and the politics of a nation; complete identification of population with party. The want to stay in power as long as possible with a complete control over the state and society e.g North Korea

Military regime

collective leadership, controlled by the military. For example, the military junta/coups in Brazil (1964-1985) or recently Myanmar (2021 onwards)

Single party regime

“access to political office and control over policy are dominated by one party, through other parties may legally exist and compete in elections”

Personalist regime

“access to office and fruits of office depends much more on the discretion of the individual leader” (121). This includes setting with a military or party-based leader where those institutions lack independent decision-making power. e.g: Uganda (1971-1979) or Turkmenistan (1985/1991-2006)

Monarchic authoritarian

controlled by a monarchy who has complete power over the accession to the throne, usually within one family/elite families. For example, Thailand

Competitive authoritarian

hybrid regimes which contain both elements of democracy and autocracy, they are competitive as the opposition has a serious contest for power, but it is still undemocratic because the process is fraught with fraud, unequal access, etc. Usually there is a bid for legitimacy

Co-optation

where autocratic regimes give benefits to influential figures and other elites in exchange for their support, often works better as a coercive force than the threat of violence. For example, Russian oligarchs

Repression

the active silencing and reduction in civil liberties and freedoms to ensure a lack of challenge towards the executive and maintaining coercive force over the population.

Legitimacy

the idea that an authority has legitimate cause and support to proceed with an idea or use of force. Usually, autocratic regimes run unfair or rigged elections to create the idea they are supported in their actions and therefore can commit acts

Coup d’Etat

a sudden, violent, and unlawful seizure of power from a government; a coup. For example, this can be military coup, or can be from another group. For example, the January 6th insurrection could be seen as a coup, the military junta in Myanmar, or even the attempt by German nationalists and opposition party members

Problem with authoritarian power-sharing

there is not enough power in one dictator to rule independently, so they will need allies, but this also means sharing power. As there is a lack of independent authority to enforce agreements there is an omnipresence of violence as an arbiter. So, a dictator may be compelled to create institutions to facilitate compliance and stability

The Problem of authoritarian control

balancing the threat from the masses, authoritarian control can only go so far and requires mechanisms to balance this challenging threat. For example, they can use repression or co-optation to coerce the populace.

Categorical vs continuous typologies of authoritarianism

Svolik argues it is important to note that dictators cannot govern wholly alone, so it locates them in dimensions of political organisation rather than strict categories like Geddes. For example, Syria (1970-2000) was controlled by al-Assad in a single regime party

Constitution

“A set of fundamental laws that determines the central institutions and offices, and powers, and duties of the state (Newton and Van Deth)

Higher laws, UK is unmodified, entrenched

Judicialisation of politics

the process through which the influence of the judiciary on legislative and administrative matters develops over time

Rights review (U7)

within a constitutional framework which involves evaluating laws and government actions to ensure they comply with fundamental rights and the constitution. A crucial mechanism for safeguarding rights and upholding the rule of law

Presidential system

a popularly elected president who is both the head of government and the head of state. They appoint and lead the government e.g: ministers/head of department, it is popularly elected legislature and it cannot dismiss the government. The president has a fixed term and cannot be removed except through impeachment. The executive is separate from the legislature, for example in the USA

Parliamentary system

the government is drawn from and responsible for the legislature, they can be removed from office via a result of a vote of no confidence. The executive is part of the legislature; for example in the UK, the head of state is the monarch and the head of government is the Prime Minister

Semi-presidential system (U8)

A popularly elected, fixed-term president exists alongside a prime-minister and cabinet who are responsible to parliament (Elgie). For example, France since 1958, there is a directly elected legislature and the president appoints the head of government (prime minister) who can command parliamentary majority

Cohabitation

when a president and a prime minister in a semi-presidential system are from opposing parties and power is shared leading to conflict. For example, this occurred in France (1986-1988)

Veto players (Tseblis)

individual or collective actors whose agreement is necessary for a change of the status quo, this can mean institutional veto players such as the president, prime minister, or legislature. They can be partisan e.g: parliamentary majority

Vote of no confidence

where majority (two-thirds usually) vote to have a say over the executive form the legislature. For example, in the case of impeachment for presidential systems, or the 1922 committee for the Conservative Party

Election

the organised choice, by vote, of a person for a position e.g: General election

Referendums

an organised choice of vote for specific policy questions e.g: Brexit

Appointment

where people get appointed to political office not out of voting e.g: Supreme Court judges

Electoral systems

regulations such as eligibility to vote, legal threshold, financing of elections; ballot structure; district magnitude, number of seats per constituency, and electoral formula, how votes are translated into seats

Majoritarian system

these are systems which focus on the absolute, or biggest majority of votes compared to others e.g: UK FPTP system, alternative vote system or two round system

Proportional system

these systems intend to produce representatives who are more proportionate to the amount of votes received by each party/policy, etc. These can include list systems (parties are voted fro and they then assign representatives) single transferable vote, and mixed-member proportional e,g Israeli Knesset

Mixed system

combine majoritarian and proportional elements, some MPs elected by each type. For example, Germans get two votes, one for local MP and one for a partys list of candidates in a particular state

Gerrymandering

the deliberate drawing of constituencies or electoral districts to encompass certain groups who are known to vote a certain way, t overall reduce the proportionality of voting and members of the legislature from that group. For example, the term originally coined in the USA, comes from the fact many electoral districts encompass only Black communities in order to dilute their vote by restricting them to one district rather than multiple

Functions of democratic elections

choosing who occupies offices at different levels, a method of ensuring a representation of citizens interest, voting for policies and people to implement them (mandate function) and voting against incumbents to punish bad outcomes (accountability function)

Political party

the specific groups that select, campaign for, and present candidates for election under their name. They represent a set of beliefs or values and often work together in or out of government to attain goals related to those values. They are groups of organised politicians that run together for elected office, they are not interest groups or social movement organisations

Elite party

early beginnings of parliamentary government, intra-parliamentary, developed within legislatures which stated acting more cohesively over time

Mass party

drivers for mass suffrage, started outside of parliament; extra-parliamentary and support representation for certain groups e.g: Labour or Suffragettes

Catch-all Party

an evolution of existing parties, they are organised in local branches but not prominent in decision making

Cartel party

an evolution again of existing parties, there is a central office dominated by head consultants, and an increased participation from members. The distinction between members and supporters is blurred

Challenger party

parties which challenge the established party system and do not have an initial experience of government. For example, Populist parties

Party system

Dominant party (Singapore, China), Two-Party (UK, USA), Multi-Party (Israel, Germany), Bi-Polar party (coalitions)

Social cleavages

the separation of society due to differences in ideals, classes, religions, beliefs, etc. This can include secularism, rural vs urban, workers vs employers, communist-socialist, materialist-post-materialist etc. It creates new political parties as each vie for their ideas to be included in legislations